


with love, richie (discont.)

by orphan_account



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Addiction, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Bad Parents Maggie Tozier & Wentworth Tozier, Beverly Marsh Knows Everything, Creepy Patrick Hockstetter, Eddie Kaspbrak & Beverly Marsh Are Best Friends, Endgame Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, F/M, Gay Disaster Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Disaster Richie Tozier, Gay Richie Tozier, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Movie: IT (2017), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Patrick Hockstetter is His Own Warning, Reddie, Richie Tozier Being Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier Being a Dumbass, Richie Tozier Being an Asshole, Richie Tozier Has ADHD, Richie Tozier Has Panic Attacks, Richie Tozier Has a Crush on Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier Smokes, Richie Tozier is Whipped, Stanley Uris is a Good Friend, Underage Smoking, benverly - Freeform, eddie and stan dated in the past, im sorry, minor steddie, richie has a crush on bev but it lass -2 seconds because hes a gay mess, richie tozier hates the bowers gang, richies friends with the bowers gang, steddie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:47:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24032263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Richies never hung around the best people, maybe a small asthmatic boy can change that?
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi!! so ive already posted this to wattpad (https://www.wattpad.com/story/215816788-with-love-richie) but im trying to see which i like better. im not sure how long this is gonna be but i hope you like it!!
> 
> also please keep in mind that the first two chapters were written a while ago, and were slightly rushed so apologies in advance!!

The summer had just come to an end, and like every other school, the students were sent into a frenzy of getting back into the swing of school. The stress for lots of them was making friends, but for a few lucky kids, that wasn't something to worry about.

Richie Tozier was one of those kids. He'd moved to Derry when he was thirteen and had been welcomed into a group of boys, run by Henry Bowers. Henry was kind of an asshole, so was the rest of his group, but their personalities were out of Richie's control. Even if Richie did decide to drop them, no one would come near him, everyone at Derry High thinks Richie's like them, they think he takes pleasure out of watching them hurt smaller, unsuspecting students. He's nothing like that.

Richie was leaning against his locker as he watched the students pour into the building. Patrick was talking about god knows what with Henry. Those two would always have the strangest conversations, at least Belch and Victors were a little more... normal.

"Richie, what'd you even do this summer? We didn't see you the entire fucking time dude!" Belch had said, playfully punching Richie's shoulder. Richie liked Belch the most, he was the nicest in the group. They got along fairly easily too.

Richie shook his head and smiled, "Nothing much, really. Just sat around and helped my parents around the house. It's not like I missed anything, right?"

He had only said that so Belch and Victor would start talking, he wasn't in the mood to deal with any of the group.

Richie was right, he was always right. Aside from a few boring parties, he hadn't missed a single thing.

After Belch mentioned a party, Victor went off on a tangent about a girl he met there and how he hopes she'd agree to a date sometime.

"What do you think, Richie? Do you think I've got a chance?" Victor had asked. Victor didn't really like Richie that much when they had first met, in fact, none of the group liked him. It was Henry's idea to bring him to the group, and whatever Henry says, goes. Obviously that's changed now, they'd all consider Richie one of the most loyal in the group.

"I'm sure you've got a chance, Vic," Richie replied. He wasn't very focused on the conversation, he was too busy watching all the students running around trying to find their classes and friends. He felt bad for all the new kids, their school doesn't exactly have the nicest people in it, his friends are the perfect example.

Richie hadn't noticed, but Belch and Victor had gone off somewhere, probably to flirt with a cute freshman they saw. Patrick and Henry were now by his side, trying to involve him in their conversation.

Richie only properly picked up on the conversation when Patrick said, "I heard that asthmatic kid started hanging around the Jew."

"What, Kaspbrak and what's his name? Uris? No way, those two hated each other last year!" Richie replied, shaking his head in disbelief. He didn't lie, the previous year, Eddie Kaspbrak and Stanley Uris absolutely despised each other, they wouldn't even look in each other's directions, and now they're all buddy-buddy? No way.

"No, I heard it too. See look, there they are now." Henry said, pointing to a row of lockers a few feet away. The three of them were tall, so it was easy to see across the ocean of people. Patrick and Richie turned to where Henry was pointing, and like he said, the two boys previously mentioned were laughing at something a chubby boy had said.

"I don't fucking believe it!" Richie exclaimed. "I swear when I saw them last they were about to rip each other's faces off. Wonder how it changed so quickly."

"I heard they bonded over their faggy feelings for one of the other nerds in their group." A new voice said. Richie turned to who it was, seeing none other than Greta Bowie. She was almost Victor's height, and she was pretty, not Richies type though. Her hair was tied up as it always was, and she was chewing on some gum. She rested her hand against Henry's chest and said, "Isn't that gross? That they're both fairies?"

"Unnatural," Henry said with a look of disgust painted onto his face. It looked fake though, Richie thought that he could wipe it off, he almost wanted to try.

"Why're they even allowed to do that? They're stealing all the boys from me!" Greta huffed, stopping her foot with an ugly pout. It was laughable, really. Why should she get all the boys? Can't she leave some for anyone else who's interested? It's not like she can have them all at once anyway.

"It's sickening to watch, look at them laughing over something Piggy said. They're unwell." Henry has always loved to show his disagreement with things. Whether it by speaking it, or kicking that knowledge into people.

"Then stop standing around Henry, go do something instead of complaining." Patrick rolled his eyes. He had a short temper, but it always lasted longer with Henry, but that doesn't stop him from getting mad at him.

"God, I wish the people here would man up and do something about these fags! Don't get me wrong, I enjoy dealing with them myself, but it gets tiring doing all the work." Henry complained. He doesn't actually find it tiring, he gets a surge of adrenaline from putting people in pain, so does Patrick. Richie always watches, he can never bring himself to touch them.

"Just go punch them around already then!" Patrick yelled, shoving Henry towards the boys, sending him a glare.

Henry was fortunate that the bell had just rung, meaning there was no one to stop him from hurting the boys. Richie crosses his arms over his chest and put one of his feet against his locker as he watched Patrick stroll over to where Henry was cursing at the two boys.

"As much as I'd enjoy watching this, I've gotta head to class, bye-bye Rich," Greta said, blowing a kiss to Richie. He pretended to catch it, turning back to the scene in front of him.

Henry and Patrick were towering over Kaspbrak and Uris, the chubby boy that Richie didn't know the name of was nowhere in sight. Patrick let out a chilling chuckle at something Henry said.

Richie kept on watching as Henry landed his first punch to the Jewish boy's cheek. The boy fell to the ground, and Richie could see the tears brimming his eyes from across the corridor. His friend instantly dropped to help him, rummaging around in his fanny pack that had been clipped tightly around his waist.

Wheezy wasn't able to help him much longer, because Patrick had picked him up by the collar of his shirt and pushed him against the locker. He leaned in close to the small boy and whispered something to him that made the color drain from his face. The paleness was replaced by a dark red as Patrick punched him in the nose, definitely breaking it.

Richie couldn't watch this any longer, so he did the only thing he could think of, "Henry, Patrick, as much as you guys are enjoying this, and as much as I enjoy watching this," lies "We have to get to class. Leave the gayboys alone and get going." Richie said, shooing them off.

"Ain't your class this way though?" Henry questioned. Richie shook his head in response, pointing his thumb behind him. It was another lie, his class was in the same direction as his two friends, but still, Henry nodded and walked off with Patrick. They probably aren't going to class, most likely smoking a joint under the bleachers while watching the girls run around the field during their P.E class.

Once Richie was sure that his two friends were gone, he turned and looked back at Eddie and Stan with a sympathetic look on his face. "Sorry about them, they're kinda assholes." He said, walking over to the two boys who were helping each other up. Eddie, the smaller of the boys, cowered behind Stan when Richie walked towards them.

Stan shot Richie a dirty look, causing Richie to put his hands up in mock surrender. "Stay the fuck away from me Tozier." Stanley spat. "I don't know what you're playing at, getting rid of Bowers and Hockstetter, but I don't trust it. One bit."

"Jeez I'm so sorry for stopping them from hurting you, maybe I should call them up and tell them to come back and keep going." Richie shot back, rolling his eyes. He didn't like this kid at all. He was too cocky.

"You didn't even do that though! They had already hurt us when you stopped them." The curly-haired boy said as he rolled his eyes.

"At least I stopped them. Most of my friends would've just joined in." Richie shook his head. If I shake my head any more today, it might snap off he thought. "Are you guys alright though? Nothing needs to be amputated or something?" Richie tried to make a joke out of the situation, but it just caused the small boy, Eddie, to widen his eyes in fear.

"B-Broken?!" The boy shrieked, touching his nose. "Oh jeez, Stan is my nose broken? Is it okay? My moms gonna kill me!"

"I don't fucking know Eddie! I'm not a doctor!" Stans words had an irritated undertone to them, but Richie could tell he didn't mean it to come across that way.

"Jesus Christ if you two don't just go to class now, you'll miss the whole thing," Richie said, fed up with them already. Stan glared at him because of his choice in words.

"First of all, choose your words better. Second of all, you chose to help us and to hang around after. Why don't you leave us alone and worry about yourself." Stan snapped, pulling Eddie, who was still panicking over his nose, down the hall towards the nurse's office.

Richie scoffed. "So much for trying to be a good person."

-

Richie took his time walking to class, he had maths first period on a Monday. What kind of a psychopath would make a student do maths on a Monday morning?

It was obvious from the start that he was going to be late, he didn't even grab the books he needed for that class. He really hated this class. Mr. Moore was a rude teacher, Richie can't remember a time he's ever seen that man smile. Hell, Henry smiles more than Mr. Moore does.

When Richie walked in, a few people lifted their heads to see who had arrived so late. When the teacher noticed that someone had arrived, he paused his sentence and turned to the door, "Late again, Richard? Keep this up and you'll be seeing me in detention. Go take a seat, you've already disrupted my class enough as it is." Mr. Moore spoke, a strict tone to his voice. Richie rolled his eyes, though he wouldn't let the teacher see.

He took a look at the seating arrangement Mr. Moore had stuck to the board at the front of the class, before looking to his desk. His seat was next to a girl he vaguely recognized. Confidently, he walked over and sat down, turning in his chair to face the girl.

"The names Richie, what's yours?" He asked, sticking a hand out for her to shake. She eyed him up and down with a look of disapproval, before turning her head to the front of the class. Without another look, she opened her mouth to reply.

"I know who you are, everyone does," Although she wasn't facing him, he could see her rolling her eyes. Her ginger hair was cut like a boy, curling around her ears. "My name's Beverly Marsh, but knowing you, you're just going to use an ugly nickname."

"I never-"

"You always use nicknames, Tozier. Don't even try to deny it." She shot him a deathly glare, it took Richie by surprise. The friendly-looking girl had venom to her words. Richie noted to try to stay off her bad side, though he had a strong feeling that he was already on it.

"So umm.. Beverly Marsh," Richie started, you'd think that because of who he hangs out with, he would be better at talking to people. "How long have you been going here for?"

She turned to him and glared again, "Look, Tozier, it's nice that you're trying to do whatever you're doing right now," she pointed her finger at him and moved it up and down, "But I'm not interested. I don't like you, or your friends, you're all horrible. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to pass this class." And with that, she turned away from him for the last time. Ignoring him for the rest of the period.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was a filler so its a little short!

Richie sat down with a huff. Henry was boasting about something he had done before lunch, but Richie wasn't sure, he wasn't paying enough attention.

"Did you enjoy it, Richie?" Patrick asked. Richie turned to him with a confused look on his face before asking.

"Enjoy what?" He looked between the four boys, trying to find an answer in their eyes.

"You need to pay more attention, Tozier, you're never listening to us," Henry said, a fed-up look on his face. "We're talking about what we did to them ponces this morning."

"Oh! That, right yeah, it was fun." Richie replied. It wasn't fun. It wasn't fun at all. It was disgusting what they did. Richie couldn't stand to watch it.

"See! Anyway, as I was saying..." Henry trailed off again, and Richie stopped paying attention. Instead, he looked around the cafeteria. There were way too many people crammed into the not so large canteen, people kept bumping into each other.

Richie never liked cramped spaces with lots of people, it stressed him out. "I'm going for a smoke. I'll be back soon." He announced, standing up and walking away without another word. This was normal for him, to go for a smoke by himself.

There weren't very many places that he could smoke without getting caught, the building was either filled with fire alarms or security cameras. His favorite spot would probably be the bleachers. The cameras facing it had been broken for years, and the school didn't want to waste money on something so simple. No one would really go there at lunch anyway, too busy gossiping with their cliques to be running around on the track field.

When Richie arrived at the field, he pulled out his pack of cigarettes and his lighter that Henry had gifted him for his birthday the year before. He took a seat on one of the lower seats and let out a content sigh as he lifted the lit cigar to his lips.

Somehow he hadn't noticed when he first sat down, but there was someone running on the track field. Why they weren't inside, Richie couldn't tell you. He took another drag from the cigarette before moving a seat down to get a closer look at who it was.

When they ran around to the side of the field that Richie was on, they jumped back. Obviously Richie wasn't the only one who hadn't noticed them.

"What do you want?" A squeaky voice asked. The boy looked terrified, and Richie didn't understand why. Richie doesn't look half as intimidating as the rest of his friends do. He wears floral shirts and ugly graphic tees! Who would find that intimidating?

"Uhh.. a cigarette?" Richie said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Those are bad for you, yknow. They'll give you lung cancer," The boy shot back, picking up his bag and jacket.

"I'm not a chain smoker, I'll be fine." Richie rolled his eyes, "why are you out here? Wouldn't you rather be inside with your friends?"

"Why're you out here?" The boy said. Richie thought it was obvious, apparently not

"Don't like the crowd?" He didn't know why the kid had asked the same question that Richie asked him without answering it first, but he didn't want to push it, he had already pissed off enough people that day.

"There's your answer," the short boy responded, walking towards him. When he got closer to Richie, he realized where he recognized the boy from.

"Hey, aren't you that kid from this morning? The one hanging with the Jew?" The boy hesitantly nodded, "how's your nose? Did Pat break it?"

"Do you think I'd still be at school right now if he broke it?" He looked back towards the building with a frustrated look on his face, "he didn't do anything more than bruise it. Why do you care?"

"What? Can't a guy feel bad for someone his best friends are bullying?" Richie stomped his cigarette out, stepping off the bleachers.

"That doesn't make sense, Tozier." The boy said, shaking his head.

"Aren't you asthmatic? Why were you running?" Richie asked, changing the subject.

The short kid looked at the ground, then at the school, then back to Richie. "Uh... my mom lied to me about it?"

"Oh.. I'm sorry?" The answer took Richie by surprise, this kid was basically famous for his asthma, and here he was, saying he was lied to for who knows how long about it?

"Um... I'm going to go get changed now." The boy said, running off nervously.

Later that day, Richie sat in the backseat of Henry’s car. He was blasting a song that Richie didn't know the name of, tapping his fingers against his beaten up steering wheel. Richie sighed, and turned to Victor, “Where are we going, exactly?” he asked.

“Probably just Hens farm, he mentioned he got a new knife he wanted to show us earlier.” Victor responded, turning back to his conversation with Belch.

Richie sighed again, causing Patrick to glare at him for a second. Patrick hates impatience, it’s probably the thing that pisses him off the most. Unfortunately for the both of them, Richie is almost always impatient. 

The drive to Henry's house is tediously long. Uselessly windy roads filled with dirty air that makes you choke as a car drives past. Barely any trees, yet no views in sight, just acres and acres of fields. Most of the fields were empty too. 

Richie wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of Henry's farm, he wasn’t a fan of Henry. Nothing to do, nowhere to look. It was so boring. Richie would far rather be spending his Monday afternoon doing something else. Seeing a new movie, rereading one of the comics he's read a million times. Anything if it means Richir isn’t sitting in the back of someone's car, going up their driveway, about to endure hours of pure boredom. 

Richie spent the whole time stuck in his head. He couldn't stop thinking of the encounters he had with the asthmatic kid. They weren’t anything worth remembering, but he couldn’t seem to get them off his mind. 

He and his friends walked up the dirt driveway, all in their own conversations. Richie was walking a few feet behind, face scrunched in concentration, hands buried deep in his pockets. He startled at a gentle, but deep voice, “You doin’ okay Tozier?” Victor asked, looking at him expectantly from beside him. He must’ve stopped walking with the others to talk to him.

“I’m good, just thinking..” Richie replied, an embarrassed smile on his lips. Victor gave him a look that clearly said I don’t believe you, Richie decided to ignore it.

Richie sat there for hours, watching his friends fuck around, laughing along whenever they laughed. He sighed in relief once everyone started leaving, jumping up and dusting his pants off, waving to his friends and rushing home.


End file.
